FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Is Rotary membership by invitation only?

A: Essentially yes, but anybody can attend one of our meetings to learn more. A sponsor will then invite you to more meetings and if you’re sure that you want to join your name will be put to the members. After 10 days, if there are no serious objections, you will be formally invited to join.

Q: Are there any special qualifications for membership?

A: Rotary recommends that prospective members must hold (or be retired from) a professional, proprietary, executive, managerial, or community position; have demonstrated a commitment to service through personal involvement; be able to meet the club’s weekly attendance or community project-participation requirements, and live or work within the vicinity of the club or surrounding area. Rotary Clubs also seek to promote diversity in their membership by seeking out members from a variety of races, professions and ages. Large clubs may have a rule that there shall be no more than 5 members with the same vocation.

Q: Is there a minimum age requirement?

A: Club members must be 18 or older. Interact Club members must be aged 12 to 18. College students may be able to join the Rotaract Club if their establishment runs one.

Q: How much does membership cost?

A: There is no fixed club membership fee. However, all members must pay semi-annual Rotary International dues that currently amount to about $80. We also pay for breakfast, whether or not you actually attend, as we pay a fixed amount to our venue host. It is currently $13 per meeting. Honorary Members and those on Leave of Absence for business of personal reasons, are exempt. Members are also free to donate any amount at any time to ongoing funds for scholarships, school field trips and so on.

Q: Is there a minimum attendance requirement?

A: Rotary requires us to report attendance monthly, but only as an aggregate percentage of what attendance could be in a given month, as there are weeks without meetings if there is an event such as a Christmas Party. There used to be a minimum requirement, but we appreciate that Members sometimes have urgent duties elsewhere. We set our meeting time at 7am on a Friday morning to accommodate as many Members as possible.

Q: What is the difference between Rotary and other service organizations, such as the Lions or Soroptomists?

A: All of them share the common goal of serving their communities and contributing to the wellbeing of the world. Rotary has always striven to balance a diversity of vocations amongst local club members. The Lions has a less strict policy, which may explain why it is slightly larger than Rotary, even though it was established later. Other organizations may be aligned along vocational, military service, religious or single cause lines, e.g. Soroptimist International economically empowers young women by giving them access to education.

This is a Work In Progress. Please Contact Us if you have other questions.

CLICK HERE TO READ DG FRED’s END of YEAR BULLETIN (June 20) A Governor’s Year Goes Quickly, but the Clubs of 5160 Leave Me in Awe My thanks to all of you in District 5160; it’s been a fun-filled and productive year as your Governor. And I do mean thanks to ALL of you – […]

CLICK HERE TO READ THE CURRENT DISTRICT BULLETIN (MAY 12) Hi all, The end of the year is approaching, and the District Assemblies – just like the Governor visits and RI nationally in the U.S. – are emphasizing membership retention. We’ve written about best practices several times in past newsletters. We’ve learned we need […]